The Tears of Asulon
by Abby Squared
Summary: Two weeks have passed since the bewildering end of the previous installment. Rotating from Percy, Piper, Leo, and the enigmatic original character Lynn Stacey, brace yourself for a thrilling adventure. One will embark on a dangerous mission. One will be kidnapped. One will be isolated. One will be betrayed. "Legacy Thus Ends," the final line of a prophecy, looms over them all.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**PIPER**

"Piper! Can you hear me?" Frantic faces. Familiar faces.

Not _his_ face.

Her vision succumbs to darkness.

"We've got to stop the bleeding. She'll need immediate surgery." Doctors. Amateur medics who will try to save her life. But_ he's_ not there.

Darkness.

"Will she make a full recovery?"

Her vision goes black before she can hear her fate.

Piper dreamed of Jason. They sat on Festus's back, their first quest together. He smiled that cute smirk, the little scar curling, his golden hair ruffling in the breeze. Then, he leaned over to kiss her.

He scooted away from her, still smirking. In her gut was an arrow. She screamed in pain, but he just smirked as she slipped off the side of Festus and fell down an endless abyss.

"JASON!" she shouted as her eyes snapped open. Her eyes searched the room. She was in the rec room, in a makeshift cot from the infirmary. There are people, but her head throbs too much for her to figure out whom.

"Piper! You're awake!" She recognized the voice before she saw the face of Louis Halvard, son of Aphrodite, her half-brother. Next to him was Kristin Sanders, also a child of Aphrodite.

"Guys, give her some air," said one of the medics. Will Solace, Piper thought. Yet her brain was too fuzzy to be sure.

As they filed out, he sat beside her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Now tell me what happened." She sat up fast, her throbbing head telling her she was most definitely not fine.

"Relax, Piper. I'll explain, but you need to relax or your blood pressure will get too high. Here, drink this." He handed her some nectar.

"Two weeks ago, Aimee found you under a tree with an arrow through your side. You had lost a lot of blood. We were able to stabilize you, but you went into a coma. It's a miracle you woke as soon as you did. We expect you to make a quick and full recovery. Whoever shot you knew what he was doing. He didn't hit any of your vital organs. His intention was obviously not to kill you."

"Jason. Jason Grace was the one who was there. He left a note…"

"We saw the note, Piper, but…Jason died. He wasn't the one you saw, or _thought_ you saw."

"I didn't _just see him_! He was there! I know he's dead, or was dead, but the Romans never saw his body! Maybe Donovan somehow…" But even she realized how impossible it was. She bit her lip.

_Piper McLean, enough tears have been shed. No more being the damsel in distress passing the hours weeping. You are a hero of Olympus. It is time to act like it._

Will glanced at her, concerned. "Donovan is powerful. He could have manipulated the Mist to make you see Jason, or the trauma could have caused hallucinations, but, Piper, Jason is dead."

Piper nodded, her expression hard. "Yeah. I know."

"Even so, we need to prepare Camp in case Donovan strikes again." He paused. "There is something else you need to know, but if you would like to rest first, I understand."

She shook her head. "No, tell me. Please."

Will Solace continued, "Nico di Angelo is back. He returned from the Underworld with a fifteen year old girl, Lynn Stacey."

"That's wonderful news!" _Annabeth did it. She found Percy and Nico and brought them back. _"How are the Jacksons?"

He swallowed hard. "Piper, the Jacksons never returned from the Underworld."

"What?" Her mouth went dry.

"According to Nico, they found a raft in one of Tartarus's rivers, and it led them out. Along the way the raft went over a waterfall, and the raft split in two. They got separated, and the raft led Nico and Lynn straight to Camp. Percy and Annabeth are nowhere to be found. We've already sent search parties, even sent Iris messages to Poseidon and Athena for any news. They're totally off the grid."

_Or dead,_ Piper thought, the words Will was too afraid to utter.

Awkwardly, Will stood up. "I'll give you some time to process this."

As he left, her mind whirred. She tried to block out thoughts of what might have happened to Percy and Annabeth, it was too much to bear. No, there were bigger problems. No one in Camp would believe Piper about Jason being alive. _Just go along with it. _And that's what she decided to do even though she knew better, she knew that Jason was alive, and he was on the wrong side.

_Camp Half-Blood is in trouble. We all are. If Donovan is so powerful as to bring the dead to life and turn them to his side, what else is he capable of? _

And with that thought, her weariness overtook her, and she fell into a light, troubled sleep.

**LYNN **

Lynn stopped and leaned against Thalia's Tree on Half-Blood Hill, looking over the valley spread out before her. It really was a breathtaking view, especially at 6:15 in the morning, as the sun rose above the ocean in the distance. The fifteen-year-old girl pulled her earbuds out and popped her iPod Touch off of her armband. She smiled as she snapped a photo. After three years of unendingdarkness, every bit of light was precious, and Lynn always took a picture on clear days when the sun rose while she was on her morning run. She had grown to love this part of the day over the past two weeks; the half hour before dawn, which is when she went for her run. She hadn't gotten used to having all these people around her, so she cherished every moment when she was alone.

She'd never thought she'd think that; after spending three years in the dark with only one other person to talk to, one would thinkshe'd be overjoyed at finally being in civilization again. And it was true; all she'd longed for was to get out of the dark and be with people. But everything was so overwhelming—she'd found out that children of Hades weren't really liked around here, and now the other campers thought she was practically a ghost, coming out of Tartarus after being stuck in there for three years. And on top of all that, the only person she really knew, Nico, wouldn't even talk to her!

She sighed, and looked out across the campgrounds again. This was now her home, but it was different from any other place she'd ever been. She jogged down the hill towards the cabins, thinking over her morning. She'd gotten up at her usual time, 5:30,and gone for her run. She normally went the same route every morning, around the border of the woods and strawberry fields, then down along the beach, and back up to Half-Blood Hill, but this morning she'd changed it up a bit. She hadn't had the time yet to go and explore the woods, and truthfully, she hadn't been very eager to go back into the dark. Still, her curiosity had won her over, and she'd told herself that it wouldn't be all that bad; she could always get out whenever she wanted to. So she'd gone into the woods on her run, and what she'd found had amazing and slightly startled her.

All the ferocious beasts that were said to be in the forest must have still been asleep, or else not real, 'cause Lynn didn't see a single one. She ventured farther into the woods, and found a huge cave, more like a giant bunker, with its door wide open, in the middle of the forest! Of course,she'd expected to see some weird things in these woods, but a giant bunker? That was beyond what she'd imagined. To make things even stranger, when she'd looked inside this bunker, she'd seen Leo Valdez, the crazy young man who'd escorted her and Nico into Camp when the first got there, in the middle of the bunker, working relentlessly on something. Lynn hadn't seen him since she'd arrived, and now she knew where he'd gone off to. She'd been about to go in and look around, when Leo's hair suddenly burst into flames. That sorta convinced her to go head back to the main part of Camp, where she'd finished up her run at Half-Blood Hill, and was now stepping into her cabin.

She looked around the small room, hoping beyond hope that her new half-brother would, for some reason or another, be there. But she already knew the cabin was empty; Nico would never come back as long as she was there. She felt guilty. From what she'd heard from Chiron, this camp had been the only place Nico could really call home, and now that she was here, he was staying away. He'd been away for so long; he deserved a chance to be among the people who knew and cared for him. Lynn suddenly realized that maybe she wasn't the only reason Nico was staying away. According to the other campers, no one really liked him, apparently he'd always been a loner. Sure, he had some people here who liked him, but maybe he wanted to stay out of everybody's way, at least for a little while, and get used to being in the world again. He was probably feeling just like Lynn herself felt.

Feeling a little better, but still a tad guilty, Lynn took off her sweaty clothes, and started her shower. Minutes later, she was drying herself off, and putting on fresh shorts and her Camp tee. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. 6:28. She still had time to write in her journal before breakfast. She pulled it out from her small bookshelf, flopped down onto her bed after grabbing a pen, and started writing.

_Dear Journal, _

_Good morning! I just got back from my morning run, and, since it's been a few days since I wrote in you, and l have to fill you in on a few things, I guess that it's time for a new entry. _

_On Friday, I found out during my shower after Capture the Flag that I had gotten my worst sunburn yet. It's still all over my shoulders, arms, and the backs of my legs. That's the last time I'm wearing a tank top at four pm in the evening during the hottest time of the year! It's slowly starting to get better, my burn that is, and I'm actually getting more brown than red. It's a miracle!_

_The sunrise was beautiful this morning! I took a picture of it, as always; I am always amazed at all the colors there are in a sunrise. I know everyone says that sunsets are way better to watch than sunrises, but I think they just say that because they're too lazy to get up that early in the morning to see the sunrise. Oh, I'm sooooo glad I'm out of the darkness, Journal! I will never again take light for granted! I guess that's why I like the sunrise so much. It brings light into the day, whereas sunset takes away all the light. I don't know how I'm the daughter of the god of the Underworld and I can't even begin to imagine living down there for eternity! I guess that's why people say he's not the most friendly or kind god; he's forever been in the darkness, with no one to bring light into his life. Someday, I hope I can do that for him. I know Hades left me alone when I was born, and didn't even make any efforts to get to know me, but he did the best he could. The Staceyswere always good to me, and I was a lot better off than a lot of other demigods. I guess I should be thankful, but I can't help but feel abandoned. The thing is, I think that my dad feels the same way, so that's how he treats others, he's never had anybody to love him, and so he doesn't know how to love anyone himself. I guess that's where Nico gets all his bitterness and resentment. Well, there's nothing I can do about it, I suppose. _

_Oh, something super funny—and kinda embarrassing—happened yesterday. I was walking around the campgrounds after breakfast, and had wandered down by the Oracle's cave, when I heard something behind me. Ever since the Hermes boys tried to play a trick on me by losing some of those wild kites on me, I've always carried my sword with me wherever I go, so when I heard something behind me, I spun around, my sword drawn. I heard a high-pitched squeal, and looked to see who'd been behind me. It was one of the younger Aphrodite boys—his name's Louis, I think—and he was curled up on the ground, moaning. The first thought that came into my mind was, Oh no! I've slashed him across the face! Then I realized that he wasn't tall enough for me to have hit him in the face: I'd aimed higher than that, anyway. He was still groaning, so I must have hit something, but I didn't know what. It was then that he sat up, looked down at his hands, and wailed, "Oh, my hair! My beautiful hair!" _

_I, of course, burst out laughing, and it really felt good to laugh after being so serious all the time. I was just glad that I hadn't killed the boy, but when I thought about his comment again, I couldn't help but laugh all the harder. What kind of _boy_ cares so much about his hair that he 1) calls it beautiful, and 2) screams bloody murder and starts sobbing like a little baby when it's chopped off on accident?! It was pretty funny to watch!_

_Well, I guess that's all I have to tell you today, Journal. I did go through the woods this morning, and saw something a little crazy, but I'll tell you about it when I know more. See ya! _

_-Lynn-_

Lynn got up off her bed, and glanced at the clock again. It was only 6:46. She had a good half hour before breakfast. What to do…

She sighed. She missed her Nico. She was never bored around him. She hadn't seen him since the first few days they'd been at Camp. He'd disappeared from the cabin after the first night, and had rarely come to meals at the pavilion. Things were so different now from how they used to be…she sighed again. Maybe she'd lost him forever.

Thinking about losing someone she loved drew her mind to another person at Camp who'd recently lost someone close to her heart, Lindsey Milan. Lindsey was the only mortal at Camp, besides the Oracle Rachel Dare, and, having only recently learned about all the gods being real and all that, and losing her twin sister, Lizzie, so tragically in a war that had nothing to do with them, Lynn was sure that the young teenager was feeling lost and heartbroken.

Lynn felt like she was being drawn to go and talk with the younger girl, so she made her way towards the Big House, where Lindsey was staying. She made her way into the house and up the stairs to the upper level, where she halted for a moment in front of the three doors in facing her, trying to decide which could be the one belonging to Lindsey. She randomly chose the middle door, and the young voice that answered her knock by telling her to come in proved that Lynn had made the right decision. She opened the door, and stepped in. There, sitting on her bed skimming through the pages of a huge book, sat Lindsey Milan.

"Why do all the books in this stupid house have to either be about wine or Pinnacle?" she asked without looking up. "I bet I've learned enough about that stupid game to even beat Chiron! Apparently he's the big champion around here. Oh," she said as she finally glanced up. "You're Lynn Stacey, right? I'm normally pretty good with knowing people's names, but I don't think I've officially met you, and I guess everything that's, um, happened lately is starting to take its toll on me."

The brokenhearted look in the younger girl's eyes made Lynn's own heart go out to her. How could she have possibly thought that her losing Nico was anything like Lindsey losing her sister? Sure, Nico had meant the world to Lynn, but to lose your twin sister, who you've done everything with for your entire life, to have seen her killed, nonetheless, after getting stuck in a middle of a war that was not her own…well, it was no wonder that Lindsey was starting to break down.

Lynn walked over to the side of the bed and sat down. She lifted the book off of the thirteen-year-old's lap, and flipped through the pages. Almost every page was filled with illustrations of grapes and the process of turning them into wine.

"I really have no idea why the god of wine would need books about things he already knows how to do, unless he's gotten a bit rusty over the last couple hundred years, and needs a cheat sheet, or he's just not as smart as everybody thinks he is." Lynn shrugged and set the book down, but her heart soared when she saw the corners of Lindsey's mouth starting to twitch up in a smile.

"You mean how smart _he_ likes to think he is. I mean, he doesn't even know who Derek Jeter is! I was like, dude, _seriously?_ You live in New York, and you don't pay attention to baseball? He's hopeless! If all the other gods are like him, I'm glad I haven't met any of them!

"So, you're the girl who just got out of Tartarus, right? Sounds awesome! I think that you were super brave to go in there for some guy you've never even met, and then to find out three years later that you're his sister? I mean, that must've been—" Lindsey slapped a hand over her mouth.

"I am so sorry! I didn't…oh I'm so sorry I brought that up. I'm not meaning to sound hardhearted, but sometimes—a lot of the time, actually—I let my mouth run away with me. I really am super sorry! Am I talking too much?"

Lynn smiled a little. "It's fine. It was really hard finding out that my best friend was my brother, and now Nico won't even talk to me, but I'm trying to move on. There's really nothing I can do about it. And no, you're not talking too much. I tend to not talk a lot myself, so I like people who do. Please, talk as much as you want. I vaguely know your story, but not very many of the details. Would you mind filling me in?"

Lindsey nodded enthusiastically, and launched into her life story, from her first memories—her family's annual beach trip to the Outer Banks, North Carolina—to all the New York Yankees baseball games her dad always took her to—she also included all the stats of all the players on the team—to the day she and Lizzie had helped the Jacksons kill the two Gorgons, up to the battle and the tragic death of her twin. Lindsey's voice had started to crack when she began the battle scene, and now a few tears were starting to slide down her cheeks. Lynn was at a loss of what to do—her people skills were a bit rusty—but, after hesitating for a moment, she slide over next to the younger girl, and wrapped her in a big hug. The poor thing had gone through so much in the past two weeks; she just needed someone to love her.

Lindsey lifted her head and smiled weakly. "It's…it's just that everything's been happening so fast. I'm trapped here with Mr. D, and Chiron won't let me do anything to help, and I don't know if my parents even know…about Lizzie, and everyone here thinks I'm just an immature little girl, and I'm trying so hard to be strong, but it's…it's so hard! Everything's so overwhelming, and I miss my sister!"

She broke down again, and Lynn hugged her harder. After a minute, she gently brushed the tears off of Lindsey's face, and smiled, saying, "How 'bout you and I go for a walk around Camp before breakfast? We still have about fifteen minutes, and I don't think Chiron would mind. What do you say?"

Lindsey perked right up, and smiled. "Sure! I'd love to! You have to tell me all about yourself! Let's go! Is it cool outside? Do I need my sweatshirt? It's a Yankees one Dad got me for Christmas last year; thankfully it still fits…"

As Lindsey continued chattering, Lynn smiled to herself. All that the younger girl needed was someone to talk to, someone who could help her take her mind off her grief. And hopefully Lynn could be that somebody.

**LEO **

Leo wiped the sweat off of his forehead. Even with his fireproof body, he could still feel the heat inside Bunker 9. He hadn't gone outside the place in days, and the heavy summer humidity, plus the lack of air conditioning—seriously, this place would take a fortune to heat and cool—had made the bunker feel like a furnace. Normally, Leo wouldn't have minded the heat, but combined with all the heavy work he had been doing over the past two weeks…well, it almost made things unbearable. But for Leo, there was something worse than having to work hard in the blistering heat: being stuck here, in the middle of a war, when the only person in life he had ever had romantic feelings for was trapped on an island far away, and he wasn't able to help her. Every second away from her was torture for him, and that torture drove him to work even harder than he ever had on any other project.

When he'd first found the raft on the Camp's beaches with its two very unexpected passengers, the first feeling he'd had had been one of joy. He'd finally found a way back to his beloved Calypso! He hadn't had much time to think about his new project in all the excitement of leading Mr. Death Dude and Lynn Whats-Her-Face into Camp and to the Big House, but once he was dismissed, he rushed back to the beach, and, after further examining it, confirmed his earlier belief of it being part of the Ogygian raft. He'd dragged it to Bunker 9, and had started working on it immediately. At first, he had no idea whatsoever how on earth he was going to rig a raft to get back to Ogygia; when he'd worked on the navigation device with Calypso on Ogygia three years ago, he hadn't had to repair the raft, just build something onto it. There were so many unknowns. He didn't know if he had to build the other half of the raft in a particular way so as to get back to the island, or if it would even work. So many ways it could go wrong. In haste, he scratched a note to self on the wooden workbench.

_Project Ogygia:_

_Step 1, figure out a means of transportation. Check;_

_Step 2, get that means of transportation working rápidamente! _

_Step 3, navigate your way to Ogygia;_

_Step 4, find Calypso and win her heart again_.

He paused before scratching in step five, an impish grin forming on his face. He let out a low whoop, then, in careful, precise letters, wrote down the most dangerous, thrilling, final step of Project O.

**PERCY**

_Holy Poseidon._

_I'm going to be a dad._

Annabeth…pregnant…

How could he have let this happen? Sure, he used to fantasize about settling down in New Rome and having kids, living in peace and safety. But that sort of life is nearly impossible for two demigods.

He never intended to have to deal with pregnancy hormones and mood swings on an empty island who knows where with no communication with the outside world. And he tried to block out thoughts about…the delivery…and who would have to deliver the baby. It made his stomach do parkour.

They had narrowed it down. This island was most certainly not Ogygia, for Calypso was nowhere to be found. And neither could it be Elysium. This island was nowhere in any mythology that Annabeth or Percy could remember. But it had some benefits. When Elanna Wythe, daughter of Hecate and sister of Donovan Pierce had been around him, she messed up his abilities with her powers. And, in Tartarus, he was too weak to make any use of them. Now that she was out of reach, and he was out of Tartarus, his full son-of-Poseidon awesomeness had returned and strengthened him.

The past two weeks he had kept himself as busy as possible by exploring the terrain. Golden beaches encircled the island. He estimated that the island was five miles or so around. He had not yet journeyed into the heart of it, mostly to appease Annabeth's fears of them getting separated, and her not feeling up to going through the thick forest of palm trees, bamboo and other shrubbery.

He had built a little hut for them to stay in. So far it was a one-room, with a small bed made from blankets provided in their backpacks packed by Sally Jackson-Blofis. He used bamboo, insulated with large palm leaves. Each day Percy found a way to add to the hut, a mantel here, a table and chair there, anything to keep him preoccupied.

Even if they could get off the island, it was too risky with Annabeth being pregnant. She'd get sick and it could take months to reach civilization, especially with no clue where they are. But if they waited after the baby, the infant might not even survive the trip until he was older.

_Why couldn't Mom have packed over-the-counter abortion to solve our crisis? _The thought made his eyes cloud up. Sure, this baby would be a nuisance. There was no certainty that he would survive labor. This baby could kill Annabeth. For that alone Percy hated the child. But, he couldn't think of the baby as an _it. _Because this wasn't about a young couple with no self-control making fools out of themselves by getting pregnant—they were married, they kept their purity, and they were now responsible for the life of a child. Not an it, this was a child, a son of Percy and Annabeth, a grandson of the gods of Olympus.

_Son._ All Percy could picture was a little boy with golden locks and bright green eyes, with a love for swimming and a desire to absorb knowledge. The perfect combination of both his parents—a son Percy would be proud of. With that vision in his mind, abortion made his stomach churn.

_If I lose my wife because of this child, I will forever hate him and myself. If he causes her unbearable pain, I will despise him and myself. But I cannot deny him his right to a chance of life. I made a choice, and forever I will have to live with it and myself._

"Percy, is everything okay?" Annabeth walked towards him.

She was still as beautiful as the girl he met nine years ago, if not more so. Her hair was naturally bleached blond and thick beautiful curls bounced on her shoulders. She wore a tight fitted blue camisole and cargo shorts. A tiny bit of a baby bump was showing, but it was barely noticeable. She had a tan, and her nose and cheeks were pink from sunburn. She had a bit of a glow, as research said pregnancies can cause. But Percy liked to think that his healthy seaweed and coconut salad topped with fire-roasted shrimp had something to do with it.

"Percy, why are you staring at me like that?"

His attention snapped back to what she was saying. "What? Oh, nothing. I'm fine. You know, you are beautiful." He cursed in the back of his mind. _Way to sound cheesy._

She laughed, filling the space between them and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you, that made my day. But, Percy, you would tell me if something was bothering you, right? Because right now, all we've got is each other. Well, and Junior. If we can't be honest with each other, we're not gonna last long here."

He hated how he could be read so easily. "Annie, you know I have concerns. We aren't ready for this."

"You've defeated Titan lords and you're complaining about not being ready for a baby?" She laughed lightly. "I know, it'll be difficult, but the island isn't that bad. We've been here two weeks, we haven't met any dangers besides sunburn and stepping on sharp shells, and the laptop still has battery life and connects to Wi-Fi. Still can't connect to email, but once I do, we might be able to contact people. It could be a lot worse, Percy."

"Well, at least one of us is an optimist. But Annabeth, if the laptop is here, then there has to be a reason why! How come neither of us has had a demigod dream? Why have the gods ignored us? How am I supposed to deliver the kid when he comes?"

Even with keeping his tone as soft as possible, he had gone too far. Annabeth bit her lip, tears streaming. She buried her face into his chest.

"Annie, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she sobbed. "It's nothing to do with you…it's hormones and…and…your mom's cookies were going stale and I finished them and they were my only source of chocolate and I don't know how to last through a pregnancy without…without…" she sobbed some more, Percy rubbing her back gently.

What was it with girls and chocolate during hormone-imbalances? Some things men just don't understand.

He kissed the top of her head. Even with sharing his concerns, she had no idea of the fears overwhelming him. _Don't let her know. She can't handle it in this state. _

"No more secrets, Percy. No secrets or lies between us, not here," she said with a final sniff.

"Of course not, Annabeth, never."

But that would be the first lie of many.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_

As you probably figured out, this is a sequel. The first enthralling installment can be read here: s/9648330/1/The-Legacy-s-End

All Rights to Rick Riordan for original characters, locations, and plot line references. All Rights to Abby Squared for original plot line and new characters. Abby Squared characters must not be used in any roleplay, fanfiction, or work of fiction without prior permission from the publisher.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**LYNN**

Lynn looked down from her perch in the tall maple tree that stood at the edge of the Camp's forest. She'd always loved heights, and her ability to climb quickly and with stealth was helping her in the game of hide-and-seek she was playing with Lindsey and some of the younger campers. As it turned out, Lindsey loved these types of games, and she and Lynn had come up with quite a few interesting variations, one of which involved having to hide in Bunker 9 without being seen by either Leo or whoever was It. The result was normally everyone, including the person who was It, hiding, squealing and giggling, as the sleep-deprived Leo stumbled around his bunker trying to find the source of the voices he could swear he was hearing, but couldn't tell if they were real or not, since he was pretty sure he was hallucinating.

Louis had gotten over his fear of Lynn, and they were now friends—if you can count all of Lynn's teasing, mocking, laughing at and playing tricks on him as friendship. Lindsey and Louis's half-sister, Kristen Sanders, both loved watching Lynn tease Louis, and the older girl gave them some very useful pointers.

Lynn herself had started to open up, and readily joined in all the social gatherings and games at Camp, a big surprise to some of the campers, who'd mostly thought that children of Hades were distant and either shy or had anger issues.

At the moment, the version of hide-and-seek they were all playing was try-and-hit-Louis-with-a-paintball-as-many-times-as-possible-without-being-caught; that was why Lynn was up in a tree. The son of Aphrodite tended to scream and run away whenever a paintball gun was fired in his vicinity—seeing as he had no idea that he was currently It—so high-up places were best for scouting around the area and getting clear shots.

She heard footsteps beneath her, and she took aim, fingering the trigger. But Louis wasn't the one to appear. Lindsey stood out in the open, eyes wide, like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding truck.

Following her gaze, she saw the aforementioned "truck." Two adults; a man and woman; hands clasped; golden wedding bands glistening. They appeared around thirty-five or forty—Lynn was not always a good judge of age—and they seemed angry, sad, relieved, and confused all at once. The woman had dark brown hair—perhaps a shade darker than Lynn's—tied into a simple updo. The white of her eyes surrounding her striking blue irises were bloodshot, the smear of mascara indicating she had cried recently. Her cheeks looked flushed, however, judging by how pale her arms were, it could just be her normal complexion.

The man had short-cropped hair that reminded Lynn of Chris Pine. It had seemed dirty blonde at first, perhaps with the slightest red tint. His eyes were hazel—an amber splash close to the pupil surrounded by forest-green irises.

Lynn had picked up this in a matter of seconds—surprised by her own attention to detail. Perhaps she too had a demigod gift. It reminded her of that TV show she watched years ago—what was it called? That one with the private detective with a bunch of phobias…oh! _Monk_! She reminded herself of Monk. The thought made her smile.

Returning her focus to the Milan's—she wasn't sure when she had figured out these were Lindsey's parents, but now it seemed obvious—she realized how awkward this was about to get.

"A month, Lindsey," Mrs. Milan muttered. "A month since you vanished, our neighbor's house exploding that very night. Not a call. Not a sign. Nothing to tell us you were alright. Your sister is dead! Lizzie Amelia Milan is dead!"

"Who told you?" Lindsey said, fighting back tears.

"Chiron. We know everything. Except—why?" Mr. Milan said.

Lindsey sobbed, running to them. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry!"

And both parents, heartbroken, confused, angry even, welcomed their daughter back with open arms. Intrigued by the relationship, Lynn shimmied up higher for a better view, crawling carefully along the maple branches.

She heard a snap and next thing she knew, she was laying on the ground—wind knocked out of her. Embarrassed, she got up, brushed herself off, and apologized to the family.

"It's okay, Lynn!" Lindsey said with a laugh, wiping her tears away. "I want you to meet my parents. This is my dad, Phillip, and my mom, Sierra."

"It's a pleasure," Lynn said politely, offering her hand. "I'm Lynn. Lynn Stacey."

Mr. Milan shook it, but Sierra stood there, shocked. "Lynn Stacey? No, it can't be…"

"What can't be?" Lindsey asked. "What's the matter with Lynn Brianne Stacey, age fifteen, born June 14th, adopted daughter of Walter and Alice Stacey, actual daughter of Hades, god of the Underworld?"

Lindsey smiled broadly, giving Lynn an "_I did get that right, right?"_ look. Lynn nodded. How she managed to remember all that, she would never know.

Sierra gasped, and Phillip wrapped his arm around her. He whispered to her, "Is she…yours?"

Sierra nodded, her mouth agape. Lynn stood there, baffled. Finally, Sierra spoke. "She's my…" She looked directly at Lynn now, her eyes burning right into Lynn's.

"You're my daughter."

They sat in a circle in the shade of the maple tree. Sierra was silent, yet her countenance seemed calculating, trying to figure out the best way to explain her impossible, unbelievable statement that Phillip had no trouble believing.

The mood had changed so dramatically, even Lindsey the chatterbox had fallen silent, picking at the grass.

Biting her lip, Sierra looked up, smiled slightly, and began her explanation.

**_Sixteen Years Ago_**

**_Sierra Ashby's Point of View_**

_I was a senior in high school when I met a god. I was the introverted, fair skinned, blue eyed, dark haired beauty of my class. But I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I was intimidated by the term "future." Then I met Hades. _

_He came in, with his ghostly presence and his dark shades. I was drawn to him—the god who was Outcast; who didn't quite fit in; the god that lived in darkness. I could relate to him on a deeper level than any jock or techie or musically inclined guys at the school. It only took a month before I was madly in love with him. He asked me to marry him a month later. I didn't tell my parents, I just ran off with him and we got married at the courthouse, and I was happy._

_But that happiness only stayed another month. I woke up, and he was gone. A note on the counter of our cheap apartment read: _

_"__I'm sorry, Sierra Ashby, but I'm a god. Gods do not settle, it never would have worked out anyways. As it is, this breaks a treaty with my brothers—though Poseidon already broke his part five years ago, as did Zeus. I'm sorry. Goodbye. I will always look after you, but you will never see me again. –H"_

_In three months, I had fallen in love, gotten married, and then was abandoned by my husband. He destroyed all marital records. I was alone. And I realized who I was._

_I was a fool. I was a girl who longed for love so much that I fell for the first person who showed any interest in me. _

_I found out a week after he left that I was pregnant. My first instinct was to get an abortion. But it occurred to me—so many religions call it murder, a sin, a wrongdoing. If those were right, would it not apply more so if I aborted the child of a god—a demigod as they were called? _

_So I asked for help from my high school best friend, Phillip Milan. He lent me money to pay my rent and brought me groceries and paid for my hospital bills. He told me I should try to raise the child, that there were plenty of people in the area that could help me rebuild my life and get my family situated. But I was so angry at Hades for putting this duty on me, that my heart was stone set on putting my baby up for adoption. _

_Walter and Alice came to the birth. They were ecstatic to have their own child. After the baby girl was delivered, I got to hold her for a moment. Her eyes were blue like mine, a soft tuft of dark brown hair like mine. And I remembered when I was twelve; how I used to come up with baby names for kids I'd have some day. One stood out and I whispered, "Hello, Lynn Brianne Ashby." _

_But then the Stacey's took their daughter. I didn't try to stop them, but I made sure they knew her name._

_Lynn Brianne Stacey._

_Before I knew it, I was dating Phillip. I told him how I regretted giving you up, but there was nothing I could do. He understood me, and he promised he'd never leave me as Hades had. He said that as he proposed. And I said yes. By then I was twenty, and I was ready to start my life over. _

Sierra looked at Lynn, expectantly. "I never stopped regretting. Will you please find a way to forgive me?"

Lynn nodded solemnly. "But…would it be okay if I called you mom?"

**PERCY **

Percy tripped and fell. He could feel empty space beneath his feet, and his life flashed before his eyes. All this happened in a fraction of a second, and in the next second, his immediate reaction of grabbing a nearby vine saved him from certain death. He looked below him to see huge waves crashing against jagged cliffs, and Percy's heart pounded against his ribcage. The ground had dropped away so quickly that it had taken his breath away. The thick jungle he'd been stumbling through a moment ago had ended abruptly, and Percy certainly would've been killed on the sharp rocks below if it hadn't been for his honed reflexes.

Over the past few days, as he wandered through the island, he'd encountered some rather dangerous trials, and he was now always on the lookout for danger. A couple months earlier—maybe even a couple of weeks—his sloppy demigod skills—or lack thereof—would've gotten him killed. But facing all the perils in Tartarus and now on this island had quickly brought back his old skills.

Being very careful, Percy pulled himself away from the precarious edge, and planted his feet once again on firm ground. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rolled up piece of tree bark, on which he had sketched a rough map of the parts of the island he'd explored. He had also pulled out a sharpened stick, and with this he drew a cove into the edge of his basic sketch of the island. He couldn't be sure exactly where this inlet was, but he thought that his guess was probably close enough. He sighed exhaustedly. It would take weeks, possibly even months to make a precise map of the entire island. It was small enough—Percy had hiked across it in a day, but going around the perimeter to try and map it all out had proved to be extremely difficult. But exploring the coastline wasn't the hardest part: that was trying to map out the interior of the island. From the beach where Percy and Annabeth had put up their hut, it'd looked fairly easy to hike from there to a small point jutting out to the north, and, once he'd reached the point and was looking back towards the beach, they looked to be only a mile apart. But normally, it didn't take Percy five hours to hike a mile. True, he'd been going through heavy underbrush the entire time, but Riptide had taken care of that, and he'd been sure he was going in a straight line the whole way.

The same thing was happening now. Percy had left the beach at 8:30 in the morning, as far as he could tell from the sun's position at the time, and he'd been going for about seven and a half hours, and he could now see that the inlet he'd almost fallen into was a mere two or three miles from where he'd started out. It just didn't make sense. This whole thing didn't make any sense! Here he was, trapped on an island with a pregnant wife, with no way to communicate to the outside world, and absolutely no way of knowing why they were on this stupid island in the first place! Of course, there had to be a reason…didn't there? Percy didn't know what to think. With the island messing with his mind as it was, he probably didn't even know _how _to think anymore.

He sighed again, and looked back the way he'd come. Annabeth would start to get worried if he wasn't back soon, and, although he had a good three hours of daylight left, he couldn't be sure how long it would take him to get back, and one thing Percy did not want on his hands was a stressed-out, pregnant wife.

Putting the map and stick back in his pocket, he turned to head deeper into the trees, concentrating hard on how he'd navigate back the way he'd come. He'd taken his first step into the jungle when he noticed something was wrong. Everything had gotten very quiet, even the crickets that were constantly chirping. There was something close by, something big, that nature was afraid of. And that something wasn't Percy.

The next thing he felt were razor-sharp claws dragging down his back, and warm blood starting to flow. The slash had reopened the wound he'd gotten when he'd met a monster after he'd first gone back to Tartarus to find Nico, and his back felt like it was on fire. He cried out in pain, and his vision turned fuzzy at the edges. His last thought before blacking-out was _Annabeth._

When Percy woke up, the sun was starting to touch the rim of the horizon, but something was wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it…oh. No wonder something was wrong. He was hanging upside-down. His head was dangling over the same spot where he'd almost fallen earlier; he could see the same jagged rocks and huge waves beating against the cliffs below him. His back ached, and he let out a low moan. He had no clue how long he'd been hanging there, and as to how he was supposed to get free without falling to his death, well, that was a question he certainly didn't know the answer to. He also had no idea if the thing that had hung him up here was still around. He would have to be very careful how he went about this…

Percy suddenly felt himself jerk, and he slipped downwards. He gasped, and looked around for something to grab. Unfortunately, his arms were pinned to his sides by a vine that also wrapped around his feet. He knew that if he tried to struggle, there was a high likelihood that his feet would come undone, and he'd send himself to a fatal plunge. He strained his neck to look up at his feet, and he felt like someone was hammering something into his skull. How long had all the blood been rushing to his head?

The vine slid again, and this time Percy caught the sound of popping. He listed off all of the popping sounds he knew, but couldn't locate what this particular sound was, unless someone was popping popcorn nearby, which was unlikely. Then he had it: it was the vine. It must be caught against something, and that something was causing it to…uh-oh. That something was causing it to fray.

The vine jerked again, but this time, instead of going down, it went up. Percy's head swam as he was pulled upwards, and he didn't have much time to think about what was awaiting him at the top of his ascent before blackness covered his vision.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**PIPER**

Piper sat at her desk in the Aphrodite Cabin, flipping through a leather-bound notebook. It was a book of battle strategies Annabeth had been putting together over the last few years, and her siblings had allowed Piper to borrow it on the condition that she return it unharmed to them when she was finished using it. As she turned over the pages filled with Annabeth's handwriting and illustrations, Piper couldn't help but think about the person who'd made it, and how she'd probably never be able to finish what she'd started. She tightened her jaw. Now was not the time to be emotional; now was the time to prepare for what was ahead, and what was ahead would inevitably be a battle. That was why Piper was looking through this strategy notebook. She'd never been as big a fighter as Annabeth or some of the other girls at Camp, but that didn't matter: she would become that fighter. Her friends needed her right now, whether they were somewhere far away where nobody knew, or a young girl who'd just lost and gained a sister, or a boyfriend who had turned evil; they all needed her.

Louis walked into the cabin, and Piper couldn't keep a smile from edging onto her lips. Her half-brother's new haircut looked…interesting, to say the least, and, although he'd had it for a little while now, it never ceased to make her smile the way he tried to run his fingers through the stubbly remnants of his mousy brown hair—eventually giving up while cursing in ancient Greek.

"Piper!" The reprimanding tone made Piper grimace. _Here it comes_, she thought. "What are you doing out of bed! The doctor said you have to rest until you're completely healed, or else you could reinjure yourself! You should know better than this, Piper! Now, don't let me catch you doing this again! Back to bed, right this instant!"

Piper just rolled her eyes. "Well, mother hen, I have a few words for you. First off, you are younger than me, so I have no obligation to take orders from you. Second, I know better than anyone how well I'm recuperating, and no doctor is gonna make me stay in bed resting while someone with a lot of magic at his disposal is planning on destroying this camp, and I'm not gonna be caught sitting around waiting for him to strike first. Someone has to do something, Louis, and I don't see you being much of a help! I know what you're gonna say: _Piper, we all know how much stress you've been through in these past few weeks, but you really need to stop thinking that you saw Jason. He's dead, and there's no way he's coming back. You were just hallucinating or something. _But I wasn't, Louis! I know what I saw! Jason's alive, and he's coming back. I don't know how or why he was with Donovan's army, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the person I saw was Jason. Why would I lie and tell you guys that the person who tried to kill me was my own boyfriend? Oh, you people are so narrow-minded! We live in a world where the old Greek gods, who no one in this day and age except for us believe in, are real, for Pete's sake, and with all the things I've seen since I found out I was a demigod, I'm surprised that having someone supposedly come back from the dead is such a shock to you guys! Bigger things have happened! If gods exist who can offer immortality to a human, than why can't they also bring back the dead? Why are you being so blind? Ugh!" Piper exclaimed as Louis gave her a sympathetic look. "Why am I even trying to talk sense into you? It's a waste of my time! I'm going to see Chiron."

With that , she stood up, grabbed the strategy notebook, and stalked out of the cabin, leaving behind a very frightened Louis with an 'I was only trying to help' look on his face. Piper made her way up to the Big House, and marched right in the front door, slamming it shut behind her. The two people at the coffee table playing Pinnacle turned to face her.

"Chiron," she announced, "we need to talk."

Mr. D. had an annoyed look on his face as one of his opponents stepped away from the table. "But I was almost winning!"

Chiron just chuckled, and whispered to Piper as they headed farther into the house, "Almost."

Piper smiled, and continued walking down the long hall until she came to a room with a closed door. Chiron opened and held it for her as she stepped inside. She'd been in this room a couple of times before. It was where all the technology allowed on Camp was held, where campers could contact their families without having to use an Iris message or send up a flair to all the monsters in the area. Piper had talked and Skyped with her dad in this room more than once. The good thing about this room was that it was soundproof, so nobody could eavesdrop on what she would be talking to Chiron about.

"We really need to talk about Donovan and his next move, Chiron," she said as she sat down in a nearby chair. "I know nobody believes me when I say I saw Jason, and we're not gonna go into that now, but it's inevitable that Donovan will be coming back, and we won't be ready for a full-scale attack. We need to start training all the campers right now. And when I say all of them, I mean it. I saw a vision in Katoptris of Donovan raising up monsters from the ground, which means he can probably build as big an army as he wants. We need all the manpower we can get. Also, we need more weapons, a lot of them. I can talk to the Hephaestus cabin, but it would probably be better if you made a formal announcement to everyone about all this. We just need to start getting ready for anything at this point. We don't know when Donovan's going to strike next, and we need all the time we can get. Would you run all this by Mr. D? I have to find Rachel. Maybe she can help us out with this prophecy. Also, is Reyna still here?"

Chiron looked down at Piper, and nodded, looking thoughtful. "I don't want you to go too overboard on this, Piper," he said. "Remember, you're still recuperating, and if you push yourself too hard, you won't be much of a help to anybody. Keep in mind that not everything is on your shoulders. There are others who can help you. Just because the leaders of the Seven aren't here doesn't mean you have to take on their burden of leadership. Make sure you're making wise decisions, and don't act too hastily. Rachel should be in her cave, and Reyna is with Hazel and Frank visiting Leo in the bunker, the last time I checked. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go finish my game of Pinnacle and talk to Mr. D. about all this."

He headed towards the door, but was stopped by Piper's voice.

"Chiron, if we can get Camp Jupiter to help us, we would be far better off in this war, right? I mean, we'd have more troops, and with their experience of fighting as a combined force…well, they could help us a lot, couldn't they?"

"Indeed they could, Piper," was the reply. "You'd only have to get your idea past Reyna."

"No, absolutely not."

"Why not?" Piper stood next to Hazel and Frank, facing Reyna, in the middle of Bunker 9. She had found them there shortly after her conversation with Chiron, and was now trying to get Reyna to join forces with the Greek half-bloods. "Come on, Reyna, you have to help us! It's the only way we'll stand any chance against Donovan. I know you're not that cruel-hearted to just stand back and watch all the people in this camp get slaughtered.

"Well," Reyna said coolly, "it would be very tempting to let Donovan Pierce take care of all of you, then you would never get in my way again."

"Reyna!" Hazel's voice showed her shock. "That's no way for a leader of the Romans to talk to someone who's our ally and friend! They need us, and there's no way I'll ever abandon them."

"She's right, you know," Frank said. "Donovan is seeking to kill the Seven, Reyna, and that includes us two. He already killed Jason, our other praetor. Shouldn't justifying that give us initiative enough to join this war? Donovan won't stop with the Greeks, and you know it. Neither of our armies is big enough to face him alone, so our only hope of survival is to combine forces. There's nothing else you can do."

Piper smiled. She loved having people on her side, especially when the person she's fighting with is Reyna, and the people who are helping her are under Reyna's command. Reyna would have to give in eventually.

"Argh! Why are you two taking her side?"

"Reyna," came a voice from about three yards away and six yards in the air, "They're not ganging up on you. They're standing up for what they believe is right. This isn't about your little feud with Piper. This is about saving the lives of every demigod on earth. I don't think you want to be known as the person who could've saved everybody, but didn't. That is, if you even live through it."

Piper's heart soared. She now had Leo on her side. He was giving an outsider's opinion, and by showing Reyna that she was wrong, he was forcing her to make a decision.

"Fine, fine! I'll do it. But I'm not doing this for you, Piper McLean. This is for my people, and to avenge Jason's death."

With that, Reyna stalked out of the bunker, leaving a smiling Piper behind.

**LYNN**

Lynn could practically fly. In the past three days, she had gained a mother, a father, and sister of her dreams! Sure, Mr. Phillip Milan was not technically related to her, but she didn't care! The Staceys were never true parents. They cared for her and raised her, but they never felt real. She should have figured it out years ago that they were adoptive parents. And Hades, well, Hades was a god she didn't even know existed in reality until three years ago, and didn't know was her paternal relation prior to three weeks ago. And she had yet to meet His Godliness, so he still seemed like some fairytale.

But Sierra and Phillip Milan felt _right._ Lindsey, her kid sister, felt natural. She felt loved, valued, and important for something.

All this went on in her mind as she sat on the outskirts of the volleyball field with Lindsey. Between the two of them was a pair of earbuds, and an iPod blaring Josh Groban's "All'Improvviso Amore." Leave it to Josh Groban to bond long lost sisters and provoke deep, wonderful thoughts.

Lindsey pulled out her ear bud. "You know, for as long as I live I'm going to miss my sister Lizzie. I'll never understand why she'd sacrifice herself for Louis. But, honestly, I never really understood half the things she did."

Lynn shifted uncomfortably. "Lindsey, I'd never, _ever_ try to replace Lizzie in your heart. You know that, don't you?"

"Let me finish, you goof." Lindsey smiled. "What I'm getting at is that I'm glad you're here. You won't replace Lizzie, but I think with you around, I'll be able to heal." She draped her arm around Lynn's neck. "Besides, s'about time I had an older sister to boss me around."

Lynn raised an eyebrow. "Ookay, well, if you want me to be the bossy big sis, I'll start by making you get us some chips. Here, you can go ask _Travis_ about getting some."

"Challenge accepted," Lindsey said with a smirk as she stood up. "But I get to keep the iPod!" And with that she strutted towards the Hermes Cabin.

Lynn smiled. All so right, so perfect.

"Lynn Stacey?" someone called. She stood up and spun around. A teenager in jeans and a camp T-shirt hurried towards her. "Are you Lynn?"

She nodded. "Yeep. That's me. What's up?"

"Nico sent me to get you. Can you follow me?" By the way the girl turned and started back the way she came, that was not a question, but a command. Lynn followed.

_What does Nico want now?_ She couldn't hide her bitterness towards him. It is one thing to find out they couldn't be together, but the fact that he now was cold towards her, without offering any amendments towards friendship, just made her angry.

"I didn't catch your name," Lynn panted as she scrambled through the forest underbrush after the girl.

"That's 'cause I never told you it." She offered no more information on herself. "Just hurry up. He said it's urgent."

It occurred to her that they were beyond the boundaries of Camp Half-Blood. She stopped. "Where is he? Tell me where we're going. I won't move until you do."

The girl spun around, her eyes flashing with anger. Lynn finally got a good look at her. Her hair was straight, dark at the roots but fading into a bleached blonde. Her eyes were blue. Or green. Lynn couldn't tell.

The girl appeared around Lynn's age, fifteen or so. But Lynn couldn't recall ever meeting her.

"We're going to Nico. Come on."

Lynn didn't budge. "Tell me your name. Tell me where he-AH!"

A gloved hand clamped over her mouth. She writhed against it as an arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her off the ground. She kicked and let out muffled screams. The girl stood there, totally emotionless.

"My name is Anika Levi. Don't struggle, Lynn Stacey. You're going to come with us to a large van, you are going to be bound, we are going to start driving, and you will hear us out. Once we know we can trust you, you'll be unbound. I hope you understand. We mean you no discomfort by our methods. You'll want to hear what we've got to say."

Lynn glared. She tried to hide the pure terror coursing through her. Whatever they wanted, this was clearly a kidnapping.

_You've been through worse. It'll be okay._

She let her body fall limp. She wouldn't struggle, but she'd make it harder for them to bring her—carrying her, dead weight.

The man carrying her was strong, and in few long strides they dragged her to the van and tossed her in the back. Two other men grabbed her and bound her hands with duct tape. The younger one put a piece over her mouth.

Four against one. Anika and the youngest boy appeared around fifteen or so. The other two were men in their early twenties, she assumed. One was a bit beefy, large and muscular with a fierce scowl and a buzz cut. The other was thin and lanky, a mop of greasy ginger hair falling over his eyes. The fifteen-year-old boy was…gorgeous. Lynn hated that her captor made her heart do flips. But gosh, his hair was amazing, brown and beautiful and styled like a pro, with that slightly tousled look. And his eyes were practically dancing with mischief and youth, but with that edge that made her think he had seen many things in his lifetime, despite his youth.

Beefy Dude revved the engine of the van, and, with a jolt, the van started. All hopes of escaping deflated.

Anika sat on the floor across from Lynn, her back to the door. Lanky Guy slid into the shotgun seat, while Mr. Gorgeous sat cross-legged, about a foot away from Lynn, holding a gun loosely. Who were these people?

"Allow me to introduce you to my friends here." She motioned to Beefy. "That's Bradley."

Lynn would have laughed had her mouth not been sealed shut. Bradley hardly fit him. It sounded more like a name for a cute puppy.

"And," Anika nodded towards Lanky Guy, "That's Haydon."

"And I'm David Smith," Mr. Gorgeous said with a dazzling smile that made Lynn's heart do a somersault.

"Now, now, David. Don't flirt with our guest; you've got a girlfriend. I don't believe Miss Aimee Tyler would appreciate you flirting with the long lost daughter of Hades."

It all clicked. Aimee Tyler, the Apollo girl—she had mentioned a boyfriend, hadn't she? Oh Aimee, does she have any idea what kind of relationship she's gotten herself into? Could she even be tied to these people?

"Now," Anika continued. "To business, I'm sure you have questions, Lynn. So I'll just give my spiel, and we'll take it from there.

"You might think we're the bad guys, due to our unethical methods. I give you my deepest apologies for that. But we have a common enemy. I'm sure you've heard of Donovan Pierce? Somehow, he has coerced his mother Hecate to empower him with dark magic. He is more powerful than any demigod should be. His intentions are to defeat the demigods, defenders of the gods. His ideology is that without demigods, the gods will be weakened and defenseless and easily overthrown. That's about all we know. But Donovan is not only capable of raising an army of monsters and traitor demigods..."

She didn't offer more explanation to what she was getting at. Instead, she changed her train of thought. "We are demigods of Roman descent. My mother is Bellona, goddess of war. My goal is to aid the demigods in this war, but not directly. That's what Donovan expects—to attack them front on and overwhelm them. He doesn't expect us working on the inside, getting under his skin and destroying him at the core.

"So, I imagine you're wondering where you fit into all of this. As I mentioned, he is not only able to create an army of monsters, he can also bring dead back to life and control them. We don't know exactly how the process works, but we've seen the result. We believe there is a way to bring them back."

Lynn was totally lost and had yet to see her involvement in all of this.

Anika smoothed a strand of blonde hair back into her tight ponytail. After a long pause, she continued. "Lynn, the reason we tell you this at all is because he has revived someone you are connected with, and this person is now under his complete control. If you help us, there is a chance we could save this person and others, but we need to be able to trust you.

"With your help, we could revive a certain Lizzie Milan, your half-sister, if my intel is correct."

David reached over and pulled off the tape. They all seemed eager to hear her reaction, whether she was on their side or not.

But all Lynn could do was sit there, mouth agape. Lizzie's alive.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**LEO**

Leo looked down and surveyed his work. After two months full of tinkering and all-nighters, his biggest project yet was almost finished. Almost. It had been hard to try and concentrate on remaking the raft while there were always younger campers running around his bunker, or one of his brothers or sisters constantly coming to either check on him or ask for advice on something they were working on. It had taken him a long time to decide whether or not to rebuild the raft or just patch the end, but he'd decided on using some of the wood that was in the campfire in the pavilion, and repaired the entire raft. It had taken him a whole three weeks to decide on what type of wire he was going to infuse into the wood as a GPS system, and he was now only a few days away from heading out to find his Calypso.

Leo glanced over at the pile of unfinished swords, spears and shields lying on a nearby table. Piper had come about five weeks ago to talk to him about mass-producing weapons for the upcoming war, and she'd checked in on him for the first three weeks, but had given up when training the warriors of Camp Half-Blood and Jupiter. Leo chuckled. He'd known that Reyna would never join forces with Piper, so, when even Frank and Hazel hadn't been able to sway her, he'd stepped in and gave the ethical view of everything: the whole thing about how nobody on earth would ever forgive, much less accept her, if she didn't put her pride behind her and serve her people. Leo had been pretty proud of himself when she'd agreed to join forces with the Greeks, and knew that they now actually stood a chance against Donovan. But when Piper had come asking, no, _telling_ him to make weapons for her, and put off the most important thing in his life, Project O, well, he wasn't very happy. He'd had about twenty-three all-nighters, and was worse for the wear. He was constantly hearing things, and had no idea if they were real or in his head. His lack of sleep led into lack of eating, but still he went on. He knew that he had to help his camp; he couldn't just abandon them without any weapons to an army of monsters, and, as much as he hated to admit it, Calypso had waited hundreds of years for one of the young men who'd once come to her island to come back, and she could afford to wait another couple of weeks.

He had gone to work hard on making weapons, but it was harder than he'd expected. He'd had a couple of his Hephaestus siblings to help him, and he'd figured out how to make molds of shields and spear heads, but making the swords was proved to be a big problem. All of them had to be made by hand, for if you didn't have a good blade, there wasn't much you could do in battle. Making a sword blade took about three hours, at least; Leo had to temper each one perfectly, and you couldn't rush perfection. On top of all that, Piper wanted him to make daggers and arrows as well. He sighed. Beauty Queen could make him do anything, especially if he was exhausted and didn't understand what she was asking him to do until after he said yes.

The young man glanced at his watch, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. When his tired eyes finally focused, he saw that it was close to three in the morning. Still time enough to work on the weapons some more. He didn't dare work on the swords when he was so tired, but the shields he could do, since they were already cut, and only needed to be plated with Celestial Bronze. He moved over to the table, and bent over to pick up one of the plain wooden shields that leaned against it. When he stood up, he was looking into the deep brown eyes of a twelve-year-old girl. He started, and blinked rapidly; he could never be quite sure he wasn't hallucinating. He wished the girl would move or speak or something: she just looked like a statue.

"Um…hi?"

"Hello."

If Leo hadn't heard her voice, he never would've guessed that she was alive. She was stock still, and her face was partially shrouded by her dark gray hoodie. There was no sign of joy or happiness in her eyes, but they flashed when Leo smiled at her.

"You're Mischelle, right? I don't think I've officially met you yet. I've been in this bunker working on stuff since before you got here, I think. I'm Leo."

"I know. Everyone knows who you are, especially in my cabin."

"What cabin are you in again?"

"Hephaestus…your cabin. You're my big brother."

"Wow. I didn't know that. How do you like Camp so far?"

"It's fine," she said. "It's different than anything I've ever gone through. I found out that I was a demigod sometime last year, when I met up with this group of other demigods. They were Roman, I think. I stayed with them for a little while, but didn't really like the way they were run, so I told them I was leaving, and they pointed me in this direction. It took me a while to get here; I had some trouble with the law: it is hard to be a twelve-year-old girl trying to make your way alone though New York with no good excuse. But, yeah, I've liked it. It's fun to train with the other kids, but I have a feeling that nobody really likes me. I guess I'm kind of a loner.

"I just came out here because I couldn't sleep, and I've heard so much about this place from the other Hephaestus kids that I decided to check it out for myself. It's pretty cool. I heard you found it all by yourself?"

"Well," said Leo, smiling a little, "I had a little help from a metal dragon named Festus, but, yeah, I found it by myself. I'm the only one who can open it, anyway." When he saw the puzzled look on the younger girl's face, he explained farther. "I'm the only Hephaestus demigod in a long time to have a certain power, and that power," he said as he made a small flame appear in his hand, "Is what opens this bunker. This power is apparently extremely dangerous, but I haven't encountered anything that life threatening, except…well, that's a story for another time.

"But what can I do for you, Mischelle? Would you like me to show you around my bunker? I know it's late, but if you can't sleep, it might help you to move around a little. What do you say?"

"Actually," she said quietly. "I'd like to talk about all your adventures. It's cool for me to think that one of my siblings can be big and important. I feel like all the other cabins can act so much better than us, but we're all really special, and I think that you prove that. So…I would love to talk about how you grew up and everything. Do you mind talking about it?"

"Not at all, Mischelle," Leo said quietly. "We can talk about whatever you want."

For the next few hours, the two of them talked all about Leo's life; about his life before he knew he was a demigod, about all his adventures as part of the Seven, and even about Calypso and his newest project. Leo felt very proud to be able to tell his younger sister about his experiences, and he loved the way she laughed when he told her about the final step in Project O. It was 5:45 a.m. by the time Mischelle headed back to the Hephaestus Cabin, and Leo was glad to finally be able to get some sleep. He would be having a lot of work to do in the next few days.

**PERCY**

When he awoke for the second time, he was staring into the face of the most beautiful angel he'd ever dreamed of. Those beautiful gray eyes and her curly blonde hair…well, she looked almost like…Annabeth?

Percy started, but two strong hands on his shoulders held him down. The angel above him spoke, and it sounded a lot like his newly pregnant wife. "You're not going anywhere, Mr. Perseus Jackson." Percy gulped, and tried to smile, but the effort made his still-throbbing head hurt.

"What are you doing out here, Annie? You know better than to come roaming around a deserted island when you're pregnant. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, Percy." She chuckled softly, shaking her head, "Here you are, looking like hell frozen over, and you ask me if I'm okay? Gosh, what is it with men?"

Percy laughed as well, but the movement sent a harsh, stabbing pain shoot up his spine. He gasped and painstakingly turned around so that she could see his back.

"Oh my word," she gasped.

"Does it look really bad?" he asked in a strained tone. "It feels like it's on fire."

Annabeth's eyes were clouded with worry. "It looks like you got attacked by a giant bird of some sort; there are deep claw marks all the way from your shoulders to your lower back. The cuts are clean, but they're pretty deep, and there's lots of blood. I don't know how on earth I'm gonna get you back to our beach."

"One step at a time, let's first see if you can even get me to stand."

Annabeth reached into Percy's left pocket, where he always kept a jackknife. "Annie…what are you…"

She slit a hole in her Camp Half-Blood t-shirt above her navel, and kept cutting around it, all the way around her body. She slit the tube of fabric down the middle, making it a long strip of cloth. Her baby bump now was out in the open evening air. "If we don't stop the bleeding, you'll probably bleed to death." She stated it matter-of-factly, as if she were quoting some Greek text book. Annabeth as Percy knew her had been replaced by a high-functioning, knowledge spurting, work-now-chat-later machine.

With the help of the jackknife, Annabeth removed the backside of Percy's shirt so she could easily see the wound. She dabbed off the top layer of dried blood and grime. Percy winced with every touch.

"Six slashes vertical to the spine, one old wound reopened, all evidence points to a bird of prey of some sort. Percy, I'm pretty sure what I'm about to do will hurt a lot." She cut off the cuff of her denim jeans, folded it up into a small square, and carefully put it into his mouth. "I don't want you grinding your teeth or biting off your tongue or anything, so bite this instead if you need. And whatever feeling overcomes you, stay conscious. In order to stop the bleeding, I'll have to put pressure on the wounds and then bind them."

Face against moss and hands grabbing tree roots on either side, he braced himself. The cloth from Annabeth's shirt covered him, sending shudders through his back. Then came Annabeth's hands, gentle at first, then ever so slightly adding pressure, until she was pushing on his back.

Percy screamed, gnawing at the denim. His eyes watered with boiling hot tears. Every muscle in his back burned. He tried to writhe in pain, writhe away from Annabeth's touch.

"Percy! Stop moving! If this doesn't work, my other option is less pleasant for the both of us."

He spat out the denim. "Just DO IT!"

He heard the click of the mini first aid kit opening. Then he heard a snip of thread and the clink of a sterile sewing needle. Gritting his teeth, it was obvious that it wasn't a shirt about to be mended.

Percy grimaced. _Like that time you hit your head on the corner of the dining room table while attempting to skateboard around the house when you were seven. Only this time the stitches won't be done while you're numbed, and there won't be any lollipop at the end._

He braced himself.

A half hour passed before she was done, every cut stitched and covered with antibiotic cream and the strip from Annabeth's t-shirt. She helped Percy to his feet, and situated him on a rock.

"Annabeth…I'm grateful that you saved me, but I still wish you hadn't been so foolish as to come. Think of the baby!"

"I was, Percy! This entire time I've been thinking of our baby!"

Percy gave her a puzzled look.

"I don't want our child to grow up fatherless simply because I didn't go after you when you foolishly ventured alone! Had I not come, you'd still be dangling over the edge, slowly bleeding to death, until the vine snapped and you fell, and that'd be the end of you! Think, for once in your life, Seaweed Brain! We are alone on an island with practically no communication beside the laptop, and no companions besides each other and the wild animals. You die, I die. I can't deliver my own baby! I can't gather food for myself when I'm about to deliver! I don't even think I'd survive the grief if you died—could _you_ if our places were swapped?"

The answer was an obvious no, but Percy said nothing.

"I'd rather the three of us die together then one or two of us having to forage for ourselves. Is that clear?"

Percy nodded, and, for the first time that day, he pulled her close and kissed her, releasing all his tension, pain, and anxiety of the day. Her whole body relaxed as she sat on his knees, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him back. He put his hand gently on her abdomen.

"HOLY!" He gasped. Annabeth stood up quickly. "I swear I just felt a kick! But…you can't be more than a month pregnant. I thought that wouldn't come until the second or third trimester…"

She shook her head. "No, it shouldn't. But I might already be in my second trimester. Time is tricky here." She looked down at her watch.

"If we leave now, we can get home before midnight." She helped him to his feet. They leaned on each other. "It's just like old times, back in Tartarus."

Hobbling forward, Percy shuddered. Tartarus—for three years those memories had haunted his dreams.

Then he realized. Those nightmares stopped as soon as they reached this forsaken island.

Perhaps because at least in Tartarus they had hope, a plan, a way out—just waiting to be reached. Here, there was no plan. There was no hope. There was no way out. Heck, they didn't even know where they were!

They continued through the deep jungle, not speaking, not stopping, as these thoughts filled his mind.

They were living a nightmare far worse than Tartarus had been.

"We're almost there. Please tell me we have ibuprofen at the hut?"

"Yep, we can thank Mom for that," she said, smiling as she said it. Her mom being a goddess and…not the normal or most ideal parental unit, she seemed happy to have Sally Jackson as a Mother-in-Law. And when Annabeth seemed happy, despite the dark situation, Percy found himself content.

The terrain changed from the harsh jungle floor to deep white sands. In a way, it was harder to muddle through, with deep pockets hard to see in the oncoming darkness. But it was familiar, and that made all the difference.

In ten minutes, they were at the hut. He stumbled through the front door, Annabeth closing the makeshift, bamboo door shut behind them. He toppled down on the bed, barely situated before pure pain and exhaustion overtook him and he succumbed to unconsciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**LYNN**

"Lizzie's alive?! That…that's not possible!"

Anika just looked a little annoyed by her reply. "Miss Stacey," she said, "If I'd met you three years ago, I would've expected this sort of answer. But in that time, you've found that the ancient Greek gods are real, and magic along with them. It's not impossible to control a spirit, if you have the right kind of magic and the skills to use it, and I have to say, I'm a little disappointed at your reaction. Yes, I know, your thought-to-be dead half-sister is actually alive but under the control of an evil magician; save me the sob story of never having dreamed of getting her back, et cetera, et cetera.I don't have time for all your sentimental hogwash. That's not the business I'm in. What I deal in is the business of making sure good always wins, no matter what the cost. If I didn't do my job, there'd be a lot more sob stories. This is war, Lynn Stacey, and there are costs, and you can't get mixed up in war thinking that someone else is going to take care of that cost. This is serious business, and you should take it seriously if you want any chance of ever getting your sister back."

The van jerked to a stop, and Anika stood up. "I trust you not to run away, Lynn. Remember, we're the only ones who can help Lizzie."

Lynn could tell that Anika knew she wouldn't try to run for it; this gang had her under their thumb. She couldn't turn her back on a chance to save her sister. But why did they need Lizzie? With all the talk about the costs of war, Anika sure seemed interested in what should've been, in Anika's eyes, a casualty. So why should she care? Lizzie couldn't do anything for them…unless she was just a guinea pig.

"So that's what you're planning."

Anika turned around, looked at Lynn as she climbed down out of the van, and raised her eyebrows, something that Lynn took as a sign to continue.

"Your plan to rescue Lizzie. It isn't about her. You just need a guinea pig to see if you can successfully revive someone who Donovan's taken over. You need to make sure it'll work so you can bring someone else back, someone more important, someone like Jason Grace! You don't care about Lizzie at all!"

David flashed his winning smile at her. "See," he said, elbowing Haydon in the ribs. "I told you she was a smart one."

"Quiet, David," Anika snapped, as she stepped closer to Lynn. The latter tried not to make eye contact, so she looked around to figure out where they were. The country spread out wide and flat for miles, but any buildings in the area must have been hidden from sight by the van. Why had they brought her out her?

Anika's voice brought her back to the present. "Look, Lynn, this way we both get what we want. You get your sister back, and we get the information and test we need. Also, if this works, then we could have a good shot at winning this war. Jason Grace is one of the greatest warriors in the world right now, and if our enemies can use him against us…well, I don't think the combined forces of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter will want to have to try and kill one of their finest leaders. Donovan Pierce knows how to play his cards, and, at the moment, Jason Grace is an ace up his sleeve. We can't afford to let him win. I won't let that happen, no matter what. Get the picture?"

Lynn looked into those cold blue and green eyes, and shuddered inside. "Well," she said, "You sure like your metaphors, don't you, Anika? And yes, I am crystal clear on why you're using Lizzie. But one more question. Besides saving the world and all that, why are you involved in this? What are you getting out of it? You don't strike me as the type of person who'd waste her time and effort trying to save people who don't even know her."

Right after she said that, Lynn saw something she hadn't expected. A look of pain and sorrow flashed across Anika's face, but quickly vanished. She stepped even closer, and said, "That, Miss Lynn Stacey, is my business."

She turned away, and soon disappeared behind the van. "Put the blindfold back on her, Bradley. I don't want her to be able to give away any information about our location."

Lynn obliged when Bradley came over with her blindfold, and was soon being led away. The dirt beneath her feet soon turned into tile, and then the blindfold was being taken off, and she could see that she was standing in the middle of what could've been a hospital room without all the equipment. In the middle of the room stood a table with three chairs, two on one side, and one on the other. It looked convincingly like an interrogation room, but for whom?

"That's not for me, is it?" Lynn asked with raised eyebrows.

"Nope!" said David cheerfully. "It's for our other guest. Please, take a seat. One of the two on that side, if you don't mind. Thank you, that's perfect." He winked at her, but this time she just rolled her eyes. She felt bad for his girlfriend. "Boys, would you fetch her, please?"

Bradley and Haydon left the room and returned a minute later leading girl, who, like Lynn herself had been, was blindfolded. She looked to be about sixteen, with a long dark braid thrown over one shoulder, and her exotic outfit was complete with knee-length boots and a short red cloak. When the blindfold was taken off, Lynn saw a bright fire burning in a pair of brilliant violet eyes. Hayden led this new arrival to the chair beside Lynn, and Anika took the one on the opposite side.

"Lynn," she said, "I'd like you to meet Elanna Wythe." Anika's eyes grew dangerously cold. "And she's gonna tell us everything she knows."

Elanna sat back, crossed her arms, and laughed. It was a laugh without mirth, without joy. It was a laugh filled with hate and coldness, a laugh that made Lynn shudder. This girl sounded like someone you didn't want to underestimate. She wasn't scared of anything.

"What makes you think I'll tell you anything, Anika Levi? I'm a daughter of Hecate, and I keep my own business. I know all about you, Anika. I know that behind all those walls you've put up, there's a scared, fragile little girl, cringing at every hand raised against you. And I know that that scared little girl is going to have to face something soon, something that will make all her walls crumble, something that she won't be able to overcome, and you know that I'm not talking about my brother Donovan. You know you can't get me do to anything I don't want to do."

Lynn couldn't help but feel like Elanna was acting like a spoiled brat with the "I'll only do what I want to do" attitude, but she kept her mouth shut. Observing her made Lynn fearful. Elanna was strong—her body well-toned and muscular. She was only a few inches taller than Lynn, but she was still very intimidating.

What unsettled Lynn the most was how carefree Elanna was. She smirked, and that smirk never left her face. _This is a game_ _to her. _Elanna was clever and calculating. It seemed obvious that even if she had no clue what to do next, she'd still smirk and make it seem like she has total control of everything. It made her look like the most dangerous one in the room.

Anika laughed—a cold laugh with no merriment, shrugging off Elanna's accusations. "You think you have us under your alluring spell, Elanna?" Anika laughed again. "Don't lose track of who's the captor and who's the captive right now."

Elanna rolled her eyes, flicking her fingers. Her eyes widened for a second. Anika's laughter filled the room once more. "You really do underestimate us. We already know you're a Hecate child with magical powers and whatnot! As _if_ we didn't prepare the room to counter that! You're predictability is disappointing."

Elanna kept smirking.

"What exactly is it that you think you know about me, about Donovan?"

Anika motioned to Haydon. "Care to enlighten our guest?"

"With pleasure," he cleared his throat. "Miss Wythe, we know that your half-brother Donovan raised you and turned you against the major gods. We know that your brother wants to destroy the demigods by killing them all, then raising them from the dead and controlling their minds to make them his army. We know you were a double agent, making it possible for Camp Half-Blood to be vulnerable to his attack. Your brother wants to destroy demigods first and foremost because they are the protectors of the gods, and, without them, gods could hypothetically be more vulnerable."

"What we want from you" Anika said, "is for you to tell us your brother's weaknesses. Things that he fears, things that he loves, leverage we can use to stop him. Millions will die in his lust for power, Elanna! Surely you can't want that?"

Elanna scoffed. "How could you possibly know what I want?" She closed her eyes, thinking.

"All right, give me a moment to talk to Anika alone. Don't worry, David, I won't bite." She smirked again. "I have something of value to you, but only on my terms, using my desired methods, and giving me what I want. That is the only way I'll say anything at all to you lowlifes."

Anika scowled. "Haydon, David, Bradley, Lynn—get out of here. Our guest and I need a private discussion."

They left, and Lynn felt an uneasy knot forming in the pit of her stomach. After fifteen minutes of touring the warehouse where Anika's group stayed, getting to know the guys, and finding out more about the operation, Anika finally opened the door and strode out. "Haydon, Bradley, start the car. Our kidnapping days aren't over yet."

Bradley crossed his arms. "Where to?"

"221 Laketon Avenue. Blue Ash, Ohio."

Lynn gulped. "And…who are you kidnapping?"

"It's brilliant, really. We're kidnapping Donovan's wife and two year old daughter."

**LEO**

Thursday morning, at six, an impish grin found Leo's worn face.

"It's done."

He had started marking with Sharpie on his arm. One dot per cup of coffee he had between showers when he'd wash the previous dots off.

Right now, he counted 23 dots.

And those 23 cups of Brazilian Roast had paid off. A beautiful wooden raft—half Ogygian magical wood, half oak, with a polished finish—sat before him. Three Celestial Bronze shields per side of the raft were melded together and fit to the raft. A small sail was smack dab in the middle of it. In the back, there was a solar-powered motor of his own invention. The front was fitted with a dashboard—complete with a stereo system, built in computer screen, and GPS. There was a chair made from waterproof, comfortable material, with reclining capabilities (as far as it could go without hitting the sail.) And behind the sail was an ice chest filled with food, and a backpack filled with clothes, weapons, a tarp in case of rain, and more food. However, the most valuable items were kept safe in the pockets of Leo's cargo pants.

All in all, the raft was three yards long and two yards across. A bit…cramped, but for one person, it would have to do. His father, the god Hephaestus, had blessed him as well, making the raft surprisingly and unbelievably light weight and buoyant.

The last couple days he had made about a hundred weapons, working nonstop without break. He locked the door of the bunker, hanging a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign up.

Sighing contently, he plopped down on his chair, jugging down a glass of water and then opening a pizza box. The savory, foreign scent of food filled the room, and without even thinking he had devoured half the Italian delicacy.

_Time to regain strength_ he thought as he closed his eyes.

He didn't wake up until a half hour before midnight, Friday night. He contemplated whether he should sleep longer, and get a full 48 hours, but decided against it. He ate the other half of cold pizza, jugged down three more glasses of water, and headed out, dragging the raft behind him.

He made it to the beach, unseen, within a half-hour. Carefully, he pushed it to the shore. Taking a sharp stick, he wrote a message in the sand for all to see.

Goodbyes were painful. Goodbyes took longer than necessary, filled with too many tears and so much sorrow. Goodbyes hindered him from getting to the one he loved more then all.

He pushed off, leaping into the raft with a whoop. Leo tossed a large fireball into the air, hoping that would draw Camp to his message in the sand, identical to a note in the armory.

**_Armory is stocked, good luck, adios. If ya need me, I'm headed to Ogygia. Peace out, amigos. Kick Donny-boy's butt for me, will ya? –Leo Valdez. TEAM LEO! TEAM CALYPSO! TEAM CALYPSO AND LEO! CALEO! (Nah, that'd never catch on. Scratch that.)_**

"That's my kind of goodbye. Keep it lighthearted, hide the pain. If the pain is hidden, it's easier to move on."

He didn't look back at the home he was leaving. In the corner of his brain there were whispers. _Why didn't I give Beauty Queen a hug before I left? What about Hazel and Frank? What about Nico? What about my siblings? What about Mischelle? My friends, all of them, and I'll never see them again if all goes according to plan._

He tried to hide the whispers, to cast them away. Camp Half-Blood was behind him. Leave it there.

_You could have at least said goodbye to Festus. _

Leo turned on music, letting the songs drown out his regrets as he ventured onward.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**PERCY**

Percy woke up only to find he was snuggling a dolphin.

He let out a yelp, scrambling up only to kick the muddy ocean floor. Sand billowed up in twirling plumes before settling back down. The dolphin looked at Percy with glaring, angry eyes. She seemed to be saying, "Here I was, so comfortable, and then you have to go scrambling like a manic porpoise."

He gave her an apologetic look before she swam away haughtily. He shouted, not caring how muffled it was because of the water, for Annabeth.

"She's right next to you," A deep, majestic voice bellowed.

Percy looked around, and the voice let out a booming laughter. "Son, son, don't you get it? You're in bed, and she's or she is next to you."

Slowly, the truth dawned on him. "So…this is a…dream?"

Again, bellowing laughter filled the sea. "A vision might be a better word, dear boy. Perchance this is the most important dream you'll have for a while. Better stay attentive."

Poseidon—for Percy soon realized who was addressing him—appeared at last. His form was different than usual. Dark hair with gray roots fully covered his head, combed up then back. He had the slightest hint of sideburns, and the old-fashioned 'do reminded Percy of Mr. Darcy—only slightly older. Perhaps more like the aged Colin Firth. Not that Percy'd been keeping up with the actor… he had just picked up on things due to being married to Annabeth.

However, his middle-aged face didn't seem to match his bronze, muscular, bare chest. His pants appeared to be the bottom half of a diver's suit, complete with flippers.

Percy's lack of style suddenly made much more sense.

"Now, Percy, how are you enjoying Asulon?"

_Asulon_. The name seemed strange, foreign. "Uh…excuse me?"

Again, the laugh. Then, the ocean vanished, and was replaced by open sky. For a moment, he expected to plummet towards his death, but instead he stayed floating in air.

Below him was the ocean, sunlight glinting off the crystal waves. Three mounds of golden sand poked out, splattered with green. Islands; at least several miles apart, forming a triangle if they were connected. ****

Poseidon tossed Percy a compass. "The uppermost island, the one in the North, is Ogygia. To the East is Elysium, and to the West is Asulon. In the center of it all lays your world, the Underworld, and Tartarus.

Percy involuntarily shuddered at the last one. He looked again. "All I see is ocean…what do you mean?"

Poseidon chuckled. "Let me try to explain. From your world, you can reach Ogygia and the Underworld. You can't reach Elysium, Tartarus or Asulon from Earth, no matter how hard you tried. Each place is in a different dimension, Percy. You can only travel to other dimensions in select cases where there are rifts that allow for it.

"As I already stated, you can reach Ogygia and the Underworld from Earth.

"You can reach Elysium and Tartarus from the Underworld.

"And you can reach Asulon and Earth from Tartarus. But this system is very complicated. A person cannot leave Ogygia, Elysium, or Asulon."

"Wait, hold up!" Percy interjected, mind reeling. "Yeah, you can! I was in Ogygia and I left! I saw Jason in Elysium, and then he disappeared!"

"In Jason Grace's case, dark magic was used. It is not a force to trifle with, and can have serious repercussions."

"Dark magic? What do you mean?"

"Of course, you wouldn't know. Donovan Pierce, the man who tried to kill the Seven, has the magical capability to reanimate a dead person's body, but control their mind and soul. The Jason you know is still lost."

Even in this dream state, those words sent a painful stab through Percy.

"And in the case of you leaving Ogygia, there is a special raft that can somehow cause inter-dimensional travel to occur. It was the same raft that brought you out of Tartarus.

"But back to my main point. You cannot see nor reach your world without the raft. And even though you can see the other islands, reaching it would be near impossible."

"So, basically, you're entering my dreams to tell me we're doomed to rot on this island you call Asulon forever?"

"Yes and no. You have noticed the island is not the most…tame, I assume?"

Percy laughed at that understatement.

"Well, Percy, that's because you have to prove yourself. Asulon is a refuge for a weary demigod. It is a gift for only the most daring of heroes."

Suddenly, Percy found himself angry. "Oh really? Refuge? I almost died today! A gift—well, you really need to rethink your gift-giving strategies! All this island has given us is strife and pain, and I'm sick of it all! Refuge—if we want refuge we'd be better off both killing ourselves and spending eternity together in Elysium!"

"Let me finish, son." Poseidon nestled into a cloud—making it obvious this was a dream. Poseidon usually steered clear of his brother's territory. "Not one of the heroes that were sent here lived to tell the tale—don't you give me that 'you just said it was a refuge' face, boy—because they didn't earn the island. Asulon, at its full potential, is safe from all outside dangers and provides all survival needs."

"So, how am I supposed to earn this…Asulon?" Percy asked.

"I'll leave that to you, Perseus."

And then Percy was falling, fast, air rushing past him and taking his breath away. And suddenly there was pain. Searing, stabbing, unbearable pain consumed him as he plummeted. His vision blackened at the edges. He was going to pass out, but the sea, the sea would heal him.

He woke up screaming in agony.

**PIPER **

Piper drew her arm back, poised and ready, every muscle in her body just as taut as the bowstring she had cocked the second before. Taking a deep breath, she aimed and released, watching as her arrow flew through the air and lodged itself solidly in the center of the target forty yards away. She turned to see the other campers, all with their eyes trained on her, waiting for their next orders. It was still somewhat awkward for Piper to be the center of attention, but she'd gotten used to it over the last two months, which had been full of nonstop training that she'd been overseeing.

"Alright! Split into four groups; each group gets six targets. Three shots per person, retrieve your arrows and then let the next person shoot. I want to see _everyone _hustling—nobody should be walking when you're getting your arrows." This was accompanied by a pointed look at the Aphrodite kids, who were still looking with horror at the prospect of having to shoot an arrow ten yards farther than they were accustomed to.

The row of archers stepped up, raising their bows after notching their arrows into place, aimed, and fired. Piper nodded with satisfaction as all twenty-four of the arrows hit the inner circle of the target—then again; twenty of the young archers had been from the Apollo Cabin.

Looking across the campgrounds, Piper realized how much had happened in only a few short months, and how much she had changed. Her dad had always told her that she was a natural-born leader, but this had been the first time Piper had actually stepped up to the plate and embraced her leadership role. And it wasn't an easy job. Everything had been happening at once; Leo leaving unexpectedly, Lynn disappearing to who knows where, having to prepare for a battle that everyone knew was coming…and on top of all her duties, Piper had to learn to cope with all the personal hurt and stress she was going through. She was still heartbroken over Jason. She always seemed to lose him whenever she needed him most.

Tearing her thoughts back to the present, Piper focused once again on the training taking place in front of her. But as the campers prepared to take their second shots, Camp's alarms suddenly blared through the air. Many campers around Piper started, and she wondered if maybe the Romans were taking this training to the extremes. Of course they needed to be prepared, and these drills were definitely necessary, but this was the second time the alarms had gone off in the last forty-eight hours.

She shrugged the thought away, and called out, "Gear up! Get into Defensive Position Three and wait for further orders." Grabbing the shield that lay at her feet and double-checking that her dagger and quiver of arrows were both in place, she jogged up Half-Blood Hill towards Thalia's Pine. Peleus was nowhere in sight. When she reached the crest of the hill, she stopped, stunned.

This was not a drill.

The sound of the campers running about getting ready for what they thought was a drill fell on deaf ears. Piper's attention was completely locked on what lay before her in the valley. Legions upon legions of monsters were gathered on the valley floor. Everyone at Camp had known that Donovan had the ability to produce monsters, but no one had imagined that he could create this many in only two short months; there were at least three gruesome monsters for every camper Piper had trained. She shuddered to think what the odds would've been had the Romans failed to join forces with them.

Forcing back the fear that was welling up inside her, Piper turned away from the sight of Donovan's army to face the campers who were still scrambling around trying to get organized. She knew that most of them had no idea that this was not a drill, and she knew that the news would, without a doubt, frighten them. Somebody had to do something to settle them all down, and Piper didn't see anyone around volunteering for that job.

Clearing her throat and putting as much force into her voice as possible, Piper yelled over the heads of all the disordered campers, "EVERYBODY LISTEN!"

The charmspeak flooded over the crowd, silencing everyone. All eyes were again on Piper. The teenagers shook their heads, trying to shrug off the magic.

"This is not a drill! Repeat, Camp Half-Blood is compromised! Arm yourselves and be prepared for a heavy attack. Whatever you do. Do. Not. Panic." Enunciating each word as carefully as she could, Piper looked into the terrified eyes of the campers.

"Look," she said, not bothering to yell anymore, knowing that everyone was already listening to her. "This is the real thing. This is war, and it's not going to be easy. But this is why we've been training for the last two months. We actually stand a chance to these guys, and I truly believe that we can win. Remember, this camp's faced worse enemies than a power-hungry demigod. You've withstood the armies of Kronos, and defeated the giants, sons of Gaea, who very nearly defeated the gods themselves. I know we can beat Donovan Peirce; he's nothing compared to what we've already faced. This war has gone too far: it's time we ended it, right here, right now."

Cheers erupted from the campers; some even brandished their weapons. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Piper might've smiled. If there was one thing she was good at, it was motivational speaking.

"Okay, everyone to their battle stations, the ones that we've been practicing. No one should have a reason for not knowing where they're supposed to be. Commanding officers, get your troops into place, then I want to see all of you in the center of the volleyball courts in five minutes."

Piper walked towards the courts, trying to sort out her thoughts. She needed a plan, and fast. Donovan's army was bigger and stronger than theirs, and he had pretty much cornered them in the Camp. Elanna had already proved that the protective shield circling the camp was no longer of any protection, and Piper knew that if they lost their footing and ran, it would be a massacre. All they could hope to do was hold their ground, and last Donavan out, if that was even possible. Maybe his monsters would turn on each other…hmm. That was an idea. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Now all they had to do was figure out how to divide Donovan's house…


End file.
